March 4 2016 - Life Expectancy

Source: Statistics Canada

Canadian life expectancies have been rising for as long as anyone alive today can remember. The most recent data show that a boy born today can expect to live for 78.3 years, while his female counterpart will live for an average of 83.6 years. Both of these are up dramatically from the earlier part of the 20th century, with male life expectancies having risen by 35%, and female life expectancies by 38%, between 1920 and 2011. Interestingly, the gap between male and female life expectancies actually rose over this nine-decade period; however, since 1980, males have been closing the gap.

Life expectancies at the age of 65 are, naturally, higher than those at birth--by reaching the age of 65, one has necessarily managed to dodge life's mortal dangers that serve to shorten average life expectancies--with males aged 65 currently living to 83.8 years, while 65-year-old females can expect to reach 86.7 years.

With much of the low-hanging fruit having already been plucked when it comes to advances in health care and the implementation of workplace safety measures, might we be approaching peak life expectancies? We don't yet know--but try to stick around as long as you can to find out.